Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Prayer Series 1 - You Have Spritiual Senses

by Dina Sleiman

Over the next two months I will be doing reposts of my favorite series
that I've written. Enjoy these thoughts on prayer and devotion. I hope
they will help you discover God in a new and more meaningful way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And
we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are
being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which
comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. ~ II Cor. 3:18

When I started to write this post, I intended to call it “Through a
Glass Darkly” or even “Dark Glass Ponderings.” You see, these words
have been rolling through my head. I’ve been
ruminating on their definitions and their impact on my life. What does
it mean to see through a glass darkly? To look into a dim glass and
ponder? What do we detect? Over time do we begin to distinguish shadows
and shapes? Do our eyes attune to something very real on the other
side?

Perhaps this all started when I picked up a book called Mystically Wired
by Ken Wilson. Don’t worry, I’m not about to go all New Age on you.
Simply substitute the word “spiritual” for “mystical” and relax.
Wilson’s basic premise is this: we are all spiritually wired, but we are
also spiritually challenged. Our minds have actually been created by
God to fellowship with him and to discern the spiritual kingdom in and
around us. Scientists have proven that prayer stimulates a unique area
of the brain and that spiritual interest is at least in part based on
genetics. As the Bible describes, we have spiritual senses, spiritual
eyes and spiritual ears, perhaps even more. However, we are also
mystically challenged, meaning we do not typically know how to use them.

Our
normal five senses for detecting the physical world are so much
stronger and clearer than our spiritual senses that we tend to dismiss
them. I like to say that God is always speaking if only we’ll be quiet
enough to listen. Our physical senses tend to crowd out our spiritual
senses. They clamor for our attention. In order to regularly and
efficiently commune with God, we must go to that still quiet place and
learn to engage our spiritual senses. We must attune that inner ear and
that inner eye. Take time to stare into that glass until the shapes and
patterns become familiar enough that they begin to make sense. Until
we trust ourselves to detect and understand them.

A great book on this subject

Wilson
takes this analogy even farther by talking about something called
“blindsight.” This occurs when a person’s eyes work, but the processing
center for sight in the brain is somehow inhibited. Although
individuals experiencing this condition cannot “see” in the traditional
sense, they show a remarkable ability to dodge unfamiliar obstacles.
While their brain is not giving them the visual messages in a logical
manner, they are in fact able to see on some sort of intuitive level,
and can even learn to better use and trust their “blindsight."

Faith
is like “blindsight.” Although we can’t quite grasp it with our minds,
some part of us “knows,” and we must learn to trust in that knowledge
and harness it to change our lives. Prayer can feel like “blindsight.”
We can’t prove that God is speaking to us and giving us visions, yet
we “know” that he is, and that awareness of God will transform us
into his image.

I
had planned to leave the post there. Looking into darkness. Then this
morning, I was having devotional time with my sons and came across the scripture above in II
Corinthians 3:18. It seems that when we were dead to sin our spiritual
eyes were completely veiled, but that as we are transformed into the
image of Christ we begin to see his glory more and more clearly. Perhaps
that glass begins to shine and glow as we stare into it and are
changed by it. Perhaps our spiritual eyes can be unveiled as we are
transformed into the image of Christ. Perhaps things don’t have to stay
so dark on this side of eternity.

Something new for you and me to ruminate about over the next few months.

I
encourage you to pray about this scripture and ask God to reveal a new
depth of meaning to you. Which word stands out? What might God want to
show you about this word? So many good ones to choose from “unveiled,”
“contemplate,” “transformed,” “ever-increasing,” “image,” “glory” just
to name a few. Consider journaling about one of these words. Trust
your inner senses and allow God to speak to you. And if you don’t mind,
share with us as well.

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About Me

Jesus is central to everything we do, and the Holy Spirit is welcome in our services. We invite you to join us
any Sunday at our casual, family oriented congregation. Please visit our website for more information.

Christi Sleiman: Acts 2 member on the go, college engineering student, overseas missionary, and children's worker. Visit Christi's blog here.Pastor Rob Stevenson:Our beloved founding pastor. Although he graduated to heaven in 2013, he lives on in all of our hearts.